


Rise

by Blue_Robin



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Genre: Comfort, Dreams, F/M, Fluff, Nightmares, Pining, Post-Lethal White
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 15:24:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17624927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Robin/pseuds/Blue_Robin
Summary: Written from tumblr prompt:"I heard you scream. Nightmares again?"





	Rise

A scream, short, shrill, and decidedly feminine, blasted through Cormoran’s ears. His eyes popped open at the same time his head snapped up from his pillow and within seconds he had his leg in hand and was attaching it.

He knew that voice.

He tugged his pants up from where he’d left them to lay, pooled around the foot of his prosthesis and grabbed a jumper from the top of his laundry hamper, tugging it on and grabbing his keys from the hook next to the door as he yanked it open and headed down the stairs toward the office below.

There were no lights glowing behind the glass panel of the office door, but he had the door unlocked and open in the span of a single breath.

“Robin?” He could just see her in the dim light cast by the street lamps outside, curled up on the couch; her red gold hair tangled and mussed and her chest rising and falling swiftly. She appeared to still be asleep and after watching her for a few moments to be sure she wasn’t working up to a panic attack he decided to leave her that way.

He walked, as quietly as he could, to the inner office and opened the closet Robin had designated as their “storage” closet. He brushed aside the plastic covered spare blazer and button down she stored in there for him, (“Just in case you need it in a hurry”) and quickly located the drawstring bag holding the camp bed he’d slept on when they’d first met. Tucked behind it was a spare blanket and pillow, musty smelling from being closed in the closet for a long period of time, but he knew with a certainty that they were clean. Robin had stored them after all.

He tucked the pillow and blanket under his arm and carried the drawstring bag with the camp bed in it out to the outer office, where he very quietly opened the bag and set up the camp bed next to her desk. Far enough away that he couldn’t reach for her in his sleep, but close enough that he’d be able to get to her quickly if she needed him.

Once he had the camp bed set up and ready he slipped off his leg and slid under the musty blanket, turning his head on the pillow toward his partner. He watched her for a few moments, taking in the sweep of her lashes, fluttering as her eyes moved under her lids in her dream. Before long he realized he was watching rise and fall of her chest and timing his breaths to hers.

 

 

He woke with the sun beaming into his face. He turned his head as he opened his eyes and found Robin’s blue grey irises watching him, surprise and a hint of embarrassment lighting them.

“Morning,” he rasped out as he rubbed a hand over his face before using the tips of his fingers to rub the sleep from his eyes.

“Hi.” She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

“I heard you scream.” He answered her unspoken question as he sat up and went about reattaching his leg, keeping his eyes on what he was doing instead of her face. “Nightmares again?”

He watched out of his peripheral as she flushed and nodded, “Mmm hmm.” She pulled back the blanket she’d been tucked under, revealing a thin strapped vest top and a pair of black cropped yoga pants with a bright blue stripe down the outside of the leg. Her feet were bare.

He tried not to notice that her toenails were painted a leaf green. He glanced up at her but she too was avoiding his eyes. “Um. Tea?” She gestured to the kitchen.

“Sure. Thanks.” He stood and set about folding the blanket, laying it on the edge of her desk, pillow on top, then folding up and restoring the camp bed to its storage bag as she moved past him and started to go about making their tea.

 “I heard you scream and when I came down you were still asleep.” He kept his back to her, but he heard her set the tin of tea bags down with a quiet thunk. “I have nightmares occasionally. About…” He trailed off and looked back at her over his shoulder.

She was watching him, head tilted, eyes watchful and slightly wary.

“When I came home from hospital it happened quite a bit and Charlotte always woke me up.” He shrugged, and half turned toward her, storage bag dangling from his hand.

Robin nodded, “Matt used to as well.”

He turned, facing her completely. “I always felt like that made it worse,” he ducked his head, losing his nerve for a moment. Hand going to the back of his neck to smooth his unruly hair down. “You know?”

“Yes. I do.” Her eyes were full of understanding and sympathy. Normally he’d hate to see sympathy from her, but he was pretty sure she was seeing it from him this morning as well. They hadn’t had enough time yet to put their barriers up, waking together as they had.

“I heard you scream, but you weren’t awake. I didn’t want you to be alone, you know,” he paused, took a breath, “Just in case. But I didn’t want to wake you either,” he finished as he dropped his hand and raised his eyes to hers.

“Thank you,” she responded as she crossed the small space between them and laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

Her hand on his arm was light but her eyes were lit with something he’d only seen once or twice. Deep and tender.

He allowed the strings of the storage bag to slide through the fingers of his opposite hand. It thudded to the floor as his hand lifted to lift hers from his arm. She squeezed his hand and stepped closer.

“Thank you,” she whispered as he felt her other arm slide along his ribs, her hand stopped on his lower back, her cheek came to a rest on his chest.

He absorbed her hug slowly. His hand releasing hers as his arms wound around her. One hand cradling the back of her head, the other resting between her shoulder blades, the tips of his fingers skimming the bare skin that rose above her top.

“Anytime,” he rasped back as his face dropped to the top of her head, lips pressing to the fragrant hair just above her forehead.

The kettle clicked off.

Her mobile buzzed on the arm of the couch.

He breathed in her scent and watched the light rise along the walls of their office as he held the one thing he knew, had known, he couldn’t live without.


End file.
